CS Graduate Student Jobs

By Cecilia Mauceri

This FAQ gives a brief overview of the differences between various jobs offered by the department. It is intended to help students choose between available job options. If you have other questions about jobs, come ask us on Slack. We’ll also update this FAQ periodically.

Job Comparison

Title

Pay (2018-2019)

Hours (hr/wk)

Tuition Waiver

Health Insurance

Example Duties

Courses Taught

Research Assistant (RA) at 50% appointment

$12,324 / semester*

20

X

X

Do research

Teaching Assistant (TA) at 50% appointment

$12,324 / semester*

20

X

X

Teach recitationHold office hoursGrade

Undergraduate Only

Graduate Course Assistant (GCA)

$20 / hr

<= 20**

Same as TA except will not teach recitation

Graduate Only

Grader

$15 / hr

<= 20**

Grading only

Both undergraduate and graduate

‘*’ This amount is distributed monthly. The fall semester has 4 months, and the spring semester has 5. So the monthly earnings are $3081 and $2465 respectively. Also, post proposal PhD students in the CS department get a raise to $13,053 / semester.

‘**’ GCA and Grader hours depend on course enrollment.

There are a few other rarer jobs, such as lead TA and graduate part time instructor (GPTI), but the above are the most common.

How to get one of these jobs

Rajshree sends out a survey about three months before each semester to look for TAs, GCAs, and graders for courses. She then works with the curriculum/TA sub-committee to try and match the respondents with available courses. You can also find out about courses that need TAs, GCAs and graders from Rajshree. For PhD students, your research advisor might occasionally ask you to TA their course.

For upper-level courses, you need to have taken the course before or have relevant experience in order to qualify to be a TA or GCA.

Typically, TAs are assigned with the following priorities

PhD students with funding commitment

PhD students without funding commitment and MS students who have previously held TAs

Outstanding GCAs and graders are also at times considered for TA positions, if needed.

At all priority levels, you must perform your TA duties well. Students who have previously held TA positions and underperformed do not get picked up again.

GCAs and grader positions mostly go to Masters students.

If you want an RA, you need to speak to a professor with research funding and convince them to hire you. For PhD students, the professor who funds your RA is typically your research advisor.

How many hours will I get?

Hours for GCAs and Graders vary based on the enrollment in the courses, and are usually determined just before the start of the semester. In general, more students mean more available hours. For GCA’s, the course instructor receives 20 hrs of GCA help per 60 enrolled students.

I went through the historical FCQs of courses being offered Fall 2018 to get an idea of past enrollment. Larger course size means more hours will be available. The department has been growing steadily for the past few years and interest in topics can vary, but the historical numbers can give you a rough idea of how many hours you might get.

Course

Number

Last Offered

Enrollment

Linear Algebra

CSCI 2820

SS 2017

84

Discrete Structures

CSCI 2824

SS 2017

206

Intro to Data Science Algorithms

CSCI 3022

FS 2016

88

Intro to Artificial Intelligence

CSCI 3202

SS 2016

95

Design & Analysis of Data Systems

CSCI 3287

SS 2017

137

Numerical Computation

CSCI 3656

SS 2017

48

HCC Professional Development

CSCI 3112

SS 2009

21

Intro to Robotics

CSCI 3302

FS 2016

48

Theory of Computation

CSCI 3434

FS 2016

33

Cognitive Science

CSCI 3702

FS 2016

66

Data Mining

CSCI 4502

SS 2017

56

Computer Graphics

CSCI 5229/4229

FS 2016

86

Network Systems

CSCI 5273/4273

FS 2016

114

Entrepreneurial Projects

CSCI 4830/5340

-

-

Object Oriented Analysis and Design

CSCI 4448/5448

SS 2017

107

Machine Learning

CSCI 5622

SS 2017

20

Data Mining

CSCI 5502/4502

SS 2016

127

High Performance Computing

CSCI 4576/5576

FS 2016

12

Undergraduate Machine Learning

CSCI 4622

-

-

Computer Animation

CSCI 4809/5809

FS 2015

35

Intro to Virtual Reality

CSCI 7000/4830

SS 2017

45

Computer Vision

CSCI 5722/4831

SS 2015

21

Network Analysis and Modeling

CSCI 5352

FS 2016

33

Design and Analysis of Algorithms

CSCI 5454

FS 2016

33

Datacenter Scale Computing

CSCI 5253

-

-

Ethical Hacking

CSCI 5413

-

-

Advanced OS

CSCI 5573

SS 2016

16

Principles of Numerical Computation

CSCI 5606

FS 2016

10

Natural Language Processing

CSCI 5832

SS 2017

32

User Centered Design

CSCI 5839

FS 2016

34

Maximum Hours

The university limits how many hours you can work in university positions:

The campus policy limits hourly student employees in all University of Colorado positions combined to a maximum of 25 hours per week or 50 hours per bi-weekly pay period during the academic year including exam weeks, spring break, and winter break; and to 40 hours per week or 80 hours per bi-weekly pay period in the summer.

In addition, if you are an international student, your visa may place limits on how much you can work:

In general, F1 and J1 international students maintaining status at CU-Boulder can work on campus a maximum of 20 hours a week during school. Refer to International Student and Scholar Services for additional information.